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The PLE Conference has a record of providing stimulating discussion of personal learning based on innovative approaches to conference organisation and a range of papers which embody research in progress at the leading edge of pedagogy.
This year, while the quality of submitted paper proposals are excellent, and many will go on to be published in journals which partner with the conference; the quantity of papers submitted would not support a full, rounded conference programme.

Therefore the organising group have decided that we will defer the 2015 conference to 2016. However the submitted papers will all be fully reviewed, with a view to journal publication and the paper submissions are now open until 30th June to allow for further submissions. We will direct those papers to the partner journals for publication in the coming year, providing mentoring and support for young researchers to help them on the path to publication.

In the interim, we plan to discuss both the conference themes and how we structure a programme, exploring new concepts to continue to deliver an event that is radical in both content, structure and style. Our aim is to restructure the conference for the next years in two ways.

First we wish to increase the richness of the conversations at the conference, with different activities, to stay at the forefront of innovative conference experiences

Second while the concept of the PLE is a little faded now, the notion of personal learning remains as valuable as ever. We aim to shift the emphasis from just Personal Learning Environments to the wider field of Personal Learning, which includes topics as diverse as analytics, the quantified self, MOOCs and new learning theories. We intend to engage with the ongoing digital transformation in learning, and with lifelong personal learning, among other topics.

We welcome suggestions and ideas, and your participation in this process, which we believe will help us to recover the spirit of this conference.

If you have already made travel arrangements to be in Galway during the originally scheduled PLE time, please contact Leigh Graves Wolf (gravesle [at] msu [dot] edu). The Master of Arts in Educational Technology program via Michigan State University will be happening at NUI Galway during that time and all PLE members are welcome to visit and to attend the free 1/2 day conference on July 16th that was originally scheduled to take place in conjunction with PLE2015.
(http://goo.gl/r9NHc5) There is an unconference scheduled during this event and you are more than welcome to present during that time.

PLE 2015 – the 6th International Conference on Personal Learning Environments – will take place in Galway, Ireland, from July 15th to 17th.

The PLE Conference intends to create an engaging, conversational, and innovative meeting space for researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas, experiences, and research around PLE related themes.

The conference invites contributions in the format of “extended abstracts” or “alternative session proposals”. However, authors of both types of contributions will be asked to communicate their research and ideas within session formats that look to avoid the traditional 15 min presentation.

Conference topics

Topics include (but are not limited to)…

PLE theoretical and reflective frameworks

PLE as a key competence

PLE in formal learning contexts

PLE and Challenging learning contexts:

PLE and Analytics

Social Learning as the core of PLE

Future Challenges in the PLE context

Invited types of contribution

We invite three main types of contribution: “papers”, “alternative session proposals” and “doctoral projects”.

The PLE Conference has integrated both traditional and innovative formats since 2010, providing opportunities to present and publish high quality research in ways that stimulate creative collaboration and idea generation, and at the same time, create spaces for debating learning and interchange in many different ways.

Consequently, the PLE 2015 Conference therefore welcomes three main kinds of submission:

Papers (extended abstracts): The academic communication process has two different branches: publication, and presentation. The PLE Conference treats written submissions of academic work and the presentation of it as two different, but complementary, practices. For this reason, the submission of the paper’s extended abstracts to the conference is aimed to share research results and to be the base of the discussion. Therefore, all the extended abstracts approved for the conference will be published on the PLE Conference 2015 ISSN proceedings, BUT they all are also expected to be presented in a dynamic -and innovative- way, depending on the different conference sessions to ensure that the conference is a lively and engaging space for interaction around the research that is presented.
Some selected works, proposed by the academic committee, could lead to publication in some special issues /sections in international refereed journals.

Alternative session: The latter may include a variety of types of interaction, such as workshops, poster sessions and demonstrations, installations, debates, cafe and pecha-kucha sessions, etc. These must be presented with clear objectives and expected outcomes, and should be centred around research and practical experience.

Doctoral projects: to be defended in the Doctoral Consortium session, where research students have a debate space where they can present and discuss their research projects with peers and other senior researchers in the field.
In short, the PLE conference is especially looking for originality and relevance of ideas in both form and content. What we wish to encourage are interactive and engaging ways of exploring the research field together.

Submission and review process

Please make sure that you categorise your submission according to Type. The submission form offers the following categories:

Paper (extended abstract)

Alternative Session Proposal

Doctoral project

Guidelines for the submission of Extended Abstracts

The extended abstract for academic papers should be between 1200 and 1500 words, excluding references, captions and tables. It should provide an overview of your research, following an abstract protocol.

The notification of acceptance will be communicated to authors no later than May 25th, 2015. Guidelines regarding the layout of the extended abstracts are provided below. (you don’t need to follow a specific template)

Title
Titles should be informative and stimulate interest.

Abstract
Articles must include an abstract of 300 words providing sufficient information about the research.

Keywords
Present five keywords

Section headingUse a maximum of three levels of headings. Do not number the headings.

Figures
Figures, graphics, and/or images should be at least 300 dpi.
It is the author’s responsibility to ensure figures, graphics and/or images used in his/her paper are cleared of copyright and/or that she has the rights from the copyright holder to reproduce those figures, graphics and images. When figures, graphics, and images are reproduced, a parenthesis should be added to the figure legend stating the following: (Reproduced with permission from xxx.)

References
References should follow APA 6th Edition style.

Length
Academic extended abstracts should be between 1200 and 1500 words, excluding references, captions and tables.

Guidelines for the submission of Alternative Session Proposals

The abstract for an alternative session should be between 450 and 500 words. It should provide an overview of the session format, its objectives, and expected outcomes. It should follow an abstract protocol.

Guidelines for the submission of Doctoral Consortium Proposals

As a guide, the proposal for the doctoral consortium sessions should include the following topics:

Context and motivation that underpins your research

Key concepts for your research

Problem statement

Research objectives/goals

Mind map with references to the work main topics

Research methods

Current (if any) and expected contributions

The presentation format will consist in a 7-minute elevator pitch followed by an open and interdisciplinary discussion session that includes researchers from the technology, education, and methodology fields.

Information such as the name of the proposer, name of the supervisor, faculty and university, and expected year to end should be included.

All accepted doctoral consortium proposals will be published in the PLE 2015 Conference Proceedings.

Pre-conference activities

Should you be interested in organising pre-conference activities such as workshops, project meetings, and so forth, feel free to get in contact with the local organising chair.

Publication of contributions

Conference Proceedings

The PLE Conference is committed to an open publication model for conference contributions. By submitting a proposal to PLE 2015, authors agree that they or their employer retain copyright, but that contributions – if published – will be licensed for use with a CC License – http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync- sa/3.0/, and its contributions are going to be included in the current issue of the PLE Conference Proceedings ISSN

Journals

Selected extended abstracts will be invited to present a Full Academic Paper that will be proposed for publication in Open Access Academic refereed Journals with which the PLE Conference has established a partnership.

Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research

http://naerjournal.ua.es/Date of Publishing: NAER is inviting papers for an special section dedicated to PLE Conference in the Vol. 6 No. 2 which is scheduled to be published on July, 2016.

Edutec-e: Revista Electrónica de Tecnología Educativa

http://www.edutec.es/revistaDate of Publishing: papers for an Special Issue dedicated to PLE Conference in No. 55 which is scheduled to be published on March, 2016.

We still working on PLEs and on 2015 we have tons of challenges to adress. We are already working on the call and organisation of the 2015 event, and we are still looking for the most appropriate venue for the conference, which we want to be more than just a conference. We would like it to be the flagship event of the yearly activity of the PLEConf community.

SO, if you are interested in hosting the next Main PLE Conference, please send to us an email providing us with the following information (plus anything else you think relevant).

Name and address of your organisation

Motivation

Possible venue – open spaces, conference rooms etc – number of people venue can hold